Where I come from and where I live, April’s fool pranks are exclusively about taping paper fishes to people’s backs, usually stealthily. I always loved it - short term and fun for everyone.

“Pumped up kids”

Edit: kicks (and I had checked the lyrics…)

Making art is just a part of being human. Who doesn’t doodle? Arrange something in a nice pattern? Sing a new tune under the shower?

We have been told that only “good” art is worth making, but that’s a lie! Any art in any form is worth it because it’s worth it to the creator. Art doesn’t need an audience, at just is.

Queen Witch by Martha Wells, second book of the Rising World.

I knew her from the Murderbot series (amazing) and lately decided to read most of her books. Demon King (book 1) was really enjoyable and the beginning of Queen Witch seems to keep up with it.

Oh! It has been on my “maybe” reading list for a bit! Can you give a review? Is it worth a read?

I understand this sucks. A lot. And you are probably right that the birth mother is influencing your child. But you can’t let it get to you and you can’t let you anger towards it (and the birth mother) show.

Unfortunately, it seems your child is stuck between his two parents. He will most likely lash out, now and in the future. And it will hurt.

I don’t have a lot of advice, just some support to give. Don’t let it get to you. Your kid loves you and you love him. Acceptance (yours towards whatever he say and will say) is fundamental even in the face of anger and rejection. You are also right that with only two hours a week there is little to do. I wish you all the best.

You met three days ago? And you are “basically living together”?

Considering the length, it’s a fling. Considering you haven’t talked about it, it’s a situationship.

My unwanted and unasked advice is to take some distance for at least a day before calling it anything at all. And then talk about expectations.

Honestly (anecdote time!), when I started going out with my partner, I had some weird and totally personal hang ups with the word “boyfriend”. So for a couple of months they were “the person I am seeing” then became my “partner”. We had the conversation about exclusivity and such, talked about where we saw stuff going and so on, but wording was difficult. A word is just a word, as long as you both agree on the rest it doesn’t really matter much.

Banana juice is a thing, and banana chips and such. Probably too small of a market to repurpose all the uncool bananas :/

I hear you, but you might be able to decouple the lazy version and the fancy one. I love pasta al pesto. I have the lazy version (sauce from the store, chuck it in) and the fancy version (start with basil…). One is a comfort food in rough times, the other a delicacy I can only savor a handful of times a year. Both are great in their respective roles.

I must have read almost all his novels, I didn’t know at all he did illustrations too. These feel so much more fantastical then his writings…

Absolutely. I am not that good at home improvement (that night already be overstating my capabilities) and I am always worried that touching something will break it even worse. At best I end up researching the problem for ages, then reporting to my partner until they feel confident enough to do it, while I play support (and feel like a self-inflicted idiot)

I would trade my very limited woodworking skills for equally limited artistic skills of any type, ideally music related.

I would trade some other skills (really any pick) for extra house improvement skills. It’s not even that I’m bad at it, I’m just too nervous to fuck it up to even start…

I never traveled solo, and don’t regret it at all. I enjoy more spending time with friends and acquaintances than doing things “my way”. I still had smaller trips on my own, arriving earlier than the rest of the group, but never enjoyed it much. So, I don’t think it’s dumb, do what you feel you will like.

I always find the first moments of movies with famous actors disconcerting. Why is Jack from Titanic here? Oh, he is not Jack from Titanic, just has his body-suit…

In a cinema I used to go to, they used to show the Met’s operas during the Sunday matinee. Absolutely lovely!

Cinema popcorn is 60% of why I want to go to the movies. My local cinema changed popcorn maker and now it’s not as fresh… I am not as excited to go to the movies anymore :/

Taxis and hotels used to be strongly regulated industries. For both, permits were required as well as regular checks. But Uber/Lyft/Airbnb created a system outside of the standard legal framework, allowing them to run an almost lawless business. So I wouldn’t say illegal but ethically grey.

Following others: definitely do not think of avocados as fruit, it’s closer to carrots (has some sweetness, but wouldn’t put it in a fruit salad).

Great easy combos I haven’t seen suggested yet: with bread and feta/salty cheese, with salt pepper and mayonnaise, with oil vinegar and mustard.

I haven’t ever had cooked avocado.

I guess I’m in the minority here, because I quite like avocados on their own. Getting a good one changes everything and getting it at perfect ripeness is important and impacts taste too. If it feels hard, it’s too early. It should have a little bit of give when you squeeze it lightly. If it has black or dark spots inside it’s starting to go. If it has air pockets inside and/or mold you lost your shot - you can still cut off those parts and eat the rest but it will not be at peak tastiness.

My personal pet peeve about Duolingo;”: it doesn’t teach you a new language, it teaches you to translate to your main language. That’s absolutely not how you want to learn a language! You want the target language to stand on its own, not be piece-by-piece translated back at any interaction.

I can magnanimously appreciate Duolingo for the purpose of giving a rough base of a new language, maybe even a little but of vocabulary. I hate everything else about it.

I want to upvote twice. Only correct answer!